County Championships

Roger Watson

The Cornwall Under 20 squad preparation for their 2019 Jason Leonard Cup campaign is now well under way.

The squad have already played one warm up game in December against Cornwall Fire Services with another due to take place on Wednesday 23rd January against Culdrose at Hayle RFC kick-off 7:30 pm.

Thirty five players attended the training session on Sunday 13th January and this includes players from 11 clubs and 3 Universities. There is a good attitude about the squad coached by Josh Lord and Richie Kevern with many of the players experienced at this level ensuring new players settle in and are ready.

Team manager, Colin Hatch, expects another stern test for the players and is sure that this will stand them in good stead when they start their Jason Leonard Championship against Devon on February 3rd at St Austell with a kick off scheduled for 1.30pm.

The fixture at St Austell also launches the CRFU Charity ‘Cry for Tom’ for this season. St Austell have kindly allowed a bucket collection which will help reach the target for the charity in 2019 which will benefit all young players in our county.

The Pirates maintain their 100% start to the season with another bonus point win and sit on top of the Championship with a maximum 20 points. Redruth come out on top on their first visit to Guernsey and Camborne squeeze home after a 0-16 half-time deficit.

Launceston lose at home to Okehampton in the cross Tamar derby relinquishing top spot to their rivals whilst St Ives go down at Keynsham. Saltash continue to find life hard in Western Counties West. Penryn keep up pressure on the leaders in the Cornwall & Devon League.

Wooden Spoon is the rugby charity for disadvantaged and disabled children. The Cornwall region has worked tirelessly to raise more than £120,000 for projects supporting disadvantaged and disabled children in the local community. All the money raised in Cornwall remains in Cornwall to benefit these children.

Co-op stores in the county have recently collected over £4K in counter top boxes, a wonderful effort, but it doesn’t stop there! Rebecca Watson (pictured) of the St Just Co-op is leading a sponsored charity event with the aim of raising another £2K to the total.

Rebecca explains, “We are from the Co-op in St Just and we are completing a sponsored charity event in aid of Cornwall Wooden Spoon.

Cornwall Wooden Spoon positively transforms lives of children and young people with a disability or facing disadvantage through the power of rugby.

We intend to visit all 32 Cornwall RFU affiliated clubs within a 24-hour timescale, commencing on Saturday 6th October from St Just Rugby Club, taking photographic evidence at each club.”

The Pirates maintain their 100% start to top the Championship with a maximum 15 points. Redruth come unstuck at Worthing after being level at half-time whilst Camborne’s Alex Ducker scores five tries in their one-point win at Newton Abbott.

Launceston continue their revival and make it three on the spin to top South West One West with a maximum 15 points. St Ives have a home walk over as Coney Hill fail to raise a side, a worrying incident for a Level Six club.

There are now twelve accredited clubs in Cornwall with a couple more expected to complete the process this month. This RFU scheme is simple to complete and is extremely beneficial to participating clubs.

We strongly recommend all clubs to take advantage of the scheme. Details from the Rugby Development Officer, Jonny Stephenson

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A good weekend for Cornish clubs. Cornish Pirates top the Greene King IPA Championship as they record their second bonus point win at the Mennaye on Sunday afternoon. Redruth hold on to win in a thrilling encounter with Taunton Titans to also make it two from two.

Camborne come back to beat Maidenhead. Launceston record their second win to stay joint top in South West One as they also make a perfect start to the season but St Ives find Devonport Services too tough to crack in Devon whilst St Austell and Falmouth show their credentials in Level Seven.

Bude make it two in a row in the Cornwall & Devon league whilst Liskeard-Looe romp home to remain unbeaten in the first two weeks.

Cornwall One and Two clubs played the second round in the Round Robin preliminaries in the RFU Junior Vase.